NBA Live 06

You think the Atlanta Hawks lack depth, take a look at Live.

Kwame Brown in a box. That pretty much sums up Live 360, a game that might have the look of a #1 pick, but just doesn't have what it really takes to be a champion. This is a game that has seen the most disappointing, perplexing transformation from current to next gen, as EA Sports inexplicably decided to take out everything that made the Live series a million seller in favor of sweat and midgets.

Forget Live 360, this is more like Live 180.

Dynasty mode...gone. Slam Dunk Contest...cut. Superstar moves...bye-bye. Sure, the game looks amazing and the player models are the best of anything currently on the market, but do you buy a game to look at it or play it? By taking so much out of the game (arguably its three most popular features) EA's not pushing the series forward, it's taking a giant leap back, and in the end trading gameplay for graphics works about as well as trading Shaq to keep Kobe, it's just not a smart decision. In the long run, it's the gamers who pay the ultimate price.

The Game If you have some friends and family over and you want to show them something impressive about the 360, turn on Live and have them check out the loading screen. Seriously, the loading screen of Live is amazing, maybe the best thing about the game. A basket rises out of the ground, banners pop all around the court, Dwyane Wade appears, and you have a practice court where you can shoot, dunk, and dribble with up to three other players. You can keep score if you like, or you can enter a code and play a funny game where there is a tiny player against a big player. The more shots the tiny player makes, the bigger he grows while at the same time, the big player, like Wade, starts to shrink. A fun distraction while the game loads. There's a giant video screen on the wall capturing all the action, and after choosing your game (while you continue to dunk, of course), you are brought straight through that screen and into the 3D arena to introduce the starters.

Live and yet not.

At tip-off though, you realize the default game speed is way too slow, and even when bumped up to maximum speed using sliders, the game still seems to lag. To top it off, there are only four camera angles to choose from, and as much as I fiddled with the zoom and height of each, I really couldn't find one that I liked. The problem is, when you change the camera from the default (which is way too far away from the action as you run up court), you see that the other cameras aren't as optimized, so you see more hitches in gameplay and problems where the camera can't keep up with the action. There are even spots where, after a foul, the camera zooms in on a player to show how much he's dripping sweat, and the camera will get lost, showing players bumping into each other, walking into the basket support, or losing them altogether. No matter what view you use, the camera just isn't fast enough to react to the action, and occasionally does strange things like focusing in on the rim when you need a rebound, rather than the ball or the players, so you don't even know where you are on the court. There are times when the camera zooms in on the player with the ball, so you can't even see the rest of your team, or who is open for the pass. To top it off, there are some strange ball physics plaguing the game, as you'll see balls take some of the strangest, most unrealistic bounces off the rim, making your job as rebounder even more difficult.

When it comes to the animations, you'll definitely see some exciting plays, from alley-oops to windmill slams. Steve Nash will even throw the occasional behind-the-back pass on a break, but with the loss of Superstar moves, it's no longer up to you when you want the flash or the cash, and it's a loss of control I can't believe was taken out of the game. There are still some breathtaking moves in there, especially when you see someone like Vince Carter swoop in for a tip slam and throw it down over the defense. NBA fans will also see a lot of signature shots in the game, including The Matrix's ugly form from behind the arc, but I'll take control over contextual animations anyday.

NBA Sim? The feel of the game as a whole is a lot more sim-like than in Live's past, and that's one of the reasons for the slower pacing. Fatigue is turned on as default (this hasn't happened in Live for years), and the default quarter length is now eight minutes in order to get more realistic NBA stats and scores (or so EA says), but in reality, when you play you end up with Jason Richardson averaging 48 points per game. In terms of gameplay, you'll also get a more realistic tone, especially during fast breaks. The AI does a great job filling the lanes, as shooters will even trail off and get behind the three-point line as you drive so you can kick the rock out for a trey.